January 30, 2012 at
2:57 PM

MLB.com's Ian Browne has some great info today on contract clauses for some recent Sox signees. Since I've speculated in this space on some contract details like opt-outs, I felt it appropriate to follow up based on Ian's reporting. There's definitely more over on his blog, particularly involving player performance incentives, so check out the link.

First, a quick note on opt-out wording: unless specified otherwise, the clause is worded that the player may be "released if requested" or added to the pertinent roster within 24 hours.

Jesse Carlson

4/1 opt-out if not on 40-man roster

60 games opt-out if not on 25-man roster

If not on Major League roster, may sign with an Asian team for escalating amounts based on date: $50,000 before Feb. 19, $75,000 between Feb. 19 and April 3, and $100,000 if after April 3.

Take: Carlson didn't seem like an obvious opt-out candidate to me. His deal definitely keeps his options wide open if he doesn't make the club. The April 1 opt-out looks more like a safety valve to me if he's getting sniffs from other MLB teams, with the "60-game" clause being his true nuclear option opt-out. The Asian team clause is also interesting to me - if he's buried on the depth chart in Pawtucket and a team in Korea or Japan is interested, he can bolt at any time, for a price of course.

Aaron Cook

5/1 and 6/1 opt-outs if not on 25-man roster (club has 48 hours to add him)

Take: Nothing too surprising. Looks like he may get a month or two in Pawtucket after all though.

Vicente Padilla

Noteworthy that he apparently has no opt-out. Might be understood that he'll be in Boston?

Carlos Silva

4/15 opt-out if not on 25-man roster (club has 48 hours to add him)

Take: Not surprised and pretty much exactly the opt-out I expected he'd have.

UPDATE, 10:00 PM: The last player I wonder about is John Maine, given that we now know he got an invite to major league spring training.

UPDATE, 2/1: Thanks to Tim Britton of the Providence Journal for confirming that John Maine was not, in fact, invited to spring training. Just a minor league deal.